One of the most common challenges with new hires is when an entry-level employee sends an unformatted, casual Slack message to a senior VP, or writes a long email to a manager who only wanted two bullet points.
Early career professionals often use the same communication style with everyone, not out of disrespect, but because they conflate “authenticity” with “inflexibility.” They may think being genuine means talking to an executive just like they would to a peer.
As managers, mentors, and career coaches, our job is to help them build situational awareness. We need to show them that adapting their tone is not being fake, but instead shows emotional intelligence and respect for their audience.
Deconstruct Misconceptions About Authenticity
Junior employees often resist changing how they communicate because they worry that adjusting their style feels fake. We need to help them see it differently:
Being too casual, like sending messages full of emojis and lacking structure to clients or senior leaders, can make a new hire seem inexperienced or careless.
Being too formal, such as sending long, detailed paragraphs to a busy boss, can create friction and slow down decision-making.
As a manager or mentor, help them see that adapting to their audience is a sign of respect. Explain that matching the receiver’s preferred level of detail, speed, and format helps professionals build credibility.
Teach Them to Pay Attention to Communication Habits
Being flexible in communication means paying attention. Encourage your mentees to notice the unspoken communication habits in your organization.
Give them a checklist of what to look for:
Medium: Does their manager like quick questions in chat, or prefer structured weekly email updates?
Format: Do senior leaders want high-level summaries first, or do they prefer to look at the raw data right away?
Tone: How do top performers talk about challenges in public channels compared to one-on-one conversations?
Connect Situational Communication to Career Progress
New professionals want to understand how their daily habits affect their growth.
When a new hire can easily adjust their message—talking casually with a peer, giving clear guidance to an intern, and sharing concise updates with an executive—they show executive presence. This tells leadership they can be trusted to represent the team in important client or executive meetings.
Build Versatile Communicators
Instead of honing one polished style, we can coach early career talent to read the room and adjust how they communicate; help them build emotional intelligence, improve relationships at all levels, and show they are ready for more responsibility.
Have Conversations with your Team
How do you help your team members find the right balance between being casual and professional with different leaders?
Run more impactful one-on-one and group sessions in less time. Our Conversation Kits give you intentional articles and discussion prompts to guide early career professionals and increase the value they bring to your organization.